Matthew, Exodus | Seventy-seven leads to hell or heaven

 

When we are wounded, our work is to interrupt the cycles of hurt and trauma and violence. And when we say "I forgive you" and "This stops with me", we are declaring our own freedom. We become part of something new and healing, life-giving, good; we become citizens of the commonwealth of heaven ...

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Genesis | Alt*red state: A text of terror brings good news

The usual interpretation of the binding of Isaac is that God may require us to sacrifice everything, even, if asked, our own children: but a contextual awareness changes everything. 

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Hosea | Gomer, the face of God

God is not seen in a violent man, but in a woman known for her love. Exercising a hermeneutics of suspicion with Hosea. Read here, or listen here.

Revelation at Armageddon

Military violence never ends, but Jesus’ way leads to true and lasting peace. An insight received one Remembrance Day, while standing at Armageddon. 

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No judgement, just paradise

In Christ we discover no judgement, only paradise: so why is condemnation such a feature of Christianity? A potted history. Read here, or listen to an earlier version here.

It's about family violence, but not as you might think

To suggest victims of family violence should ‘turn the other cheek’ is a toxic distortion of Jesus’ teaching. A look at the context of these words, and how they are an invitation to challenge all forms of violence and control, including within the family. Read here, or listen here.

We need to talk about hell

Some of us grew up with threats of hell, that burning lake of fire and brimstone into which the sinful will be cast at death to their everlasting fiery torment. Given how regularly hell comes up in many a church’s preaching and in popular culture, and given how graphically it is described, you might wonder why I never mention it here. Am I avoiding all the nasty bits of the Bible? Well, no—but I think it’s time we had that little chat: we need to talk about hell ...

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Predatory foxes and powerless hens

“Where was God?” a friend once wrote to me. “Where was God when my father was on the rampage, trying to break down my bedroom door? Where was God when I was hiding under the dining room table, shaking and terrified? Why didn’t God keep me safe?” There’s an old children’s song that goes like this: “My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing my God cannot do …” And when I think of my dear friend, who sang songs like this in religious education classes at school, and who begged God to keep her safe from her father at home, my heart breaks ...

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Let's make a splash!

Baptism. It’s something John offered, and something Jesus underwent, and something his disciples are told to do. It’s got something to do with water and washing and sin: but what is it, actually? What are we doing, what are we declaring, who are we becoming when we are baptised? What does it all mean? Tonight’s story offers a few clues, but to explore the depths, we’ll first need to zoom out a little.

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Winnowing out only violence, or The move from John to Jesus

Some years back, I saw a woman in a carpark smacking her child. And as she smacked, she yelled, “WE DO NOT HIT IN THIS FAMILY! WE LOVE!” It reminded me of those ostensibly Biblical parenting models, in which cool and collected parents maintain discipline by spanking their naughty children—and then lovingly use the moment as a teaching opportunity. Because the people being hit are children, and because our society doesn’t rate children’s experiences very highly, we adults can miss the contradiction here. Yet if we substitute ‘women’ for ‘children’, perhaps things become clearer: even if it’s ‘just a smack’, there is a mixed message going on, to say the least.

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Revelation at Armageddon

To get to Armageddon, known in Hebrew as ‘Megiddo’, we drive past an airfield. Our Israeli guide tells us about the Syrian fighter pilot who defected there in 1989. He was flying a Soviet-made MIG-23, which provided Israel with valuable military intelligence—and it feels like nothing ever changes. For in the Hebrew Bible, Megiddo is the site of many clashes where victory is attributed to God; in the book of Revelation, it’s the site where the kings of the world are assembled for a final battle. And so for many people Megiddo, or Armageddon, has long been associated with the destructive violence we expect from military rulers, whether human or divine: and the military is still active here. Read here, or listen here.

You Are Not Defiled

In tonight’s reading, religious leaders criticise Jesus’ disciples for failing to wash their hands in the correct ritual way before they eat. Jesus pushes back, hard, and goes on to say that we are not defiled by what we eat and drink. Instead, it’s the things we say and do which can defile us. But what if his disciples were criticised, not for failing to keep kosher, but for failing to maintain "Biblical family values"? For a region hard-hit by clergy abuse, here's a new take on a old story ... Listen here, or read here.

A reflection on Mark 7:1-8, 14-23 given to Sanctuary on 2 September 2018 (BP17; Year B Proper 17) © Alison Sampson, 2018. Image shows Emmaus (2000) by Emmanuel Garibay, found here.

Senator Anning vs Christo-Cannibalism, and the New Community of Love

For many years, our family shared Christmas lunch with friends and strangers. We’d put the word out, and eat with whoever wanted. One year, it was huge. Friends, and friends of friends, and friends of friends of friends, all turned up at our door. Some of them I knew and loved; others, I hadn’t met before. But gradually I came to realise: almost everyone there was gay. And almost everyone came from a religious family, which had rejected them because of their sexuality ...

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A reflection on John 6:51-58, given to Sanctuary on 19 August 2018 (BP15; Year B Proper 15) © Alison Sampson, 2018.